Rund Abdelfatah
– Blackmail –
I HAVE been known to point out the weaknesses in the wind turbine argument, especially the paradox whereby the more we come to rely on wind energy the more we must invest in conventional power generation for those frequent but unpredictable moments when the wind don’t blow.
For a brief instant, in the last issue of the Olive Press, I thought that common sense was starting to permeate the dense ministerial numbskulls who manage these issues in NSGB.
News items reported a planned reduction of 25% in the appallingly high subsidies that the government pays to the companies, most not resident in the UK, that use wind turbines to generate electricity – subsidies that are passed directly to the consumer in the form of higher unit charges.
Now it seems that, in order to protect their obscene profits, these foreign conglomerates have threatened to withdraw from the UK unless government takes another look at planned subsidy reductions. In my book, that’s blackmail.
These are the moments when I regret not being a younger man and back in the middle of the action.
First, I would have told these extortionists to take a running jump; then I would impose a punitive tax on the profits of foreign-owned wind farms; then I would consider the other seriously viable methods of green power generation before building enough nuclear power stations to guarantee supply for the next century.
What did the lily-livered, spineless numpties in Whitehall do?
They immediately acquiesced and reduced the subsidy cut from 25 to 10%.
As a consequence, the entire energy ministry, from Ed Davy down, should be pilloried in the streets so that irate consumers, faced with continually escalating fuel bills, have an opportunity to pelt them with rotten tomatoes.
David Cameron should be ashamed that he has allowed the Liberal sandalistas to dictate on this crucial issue.
He should not be surprised when the Tories are ousted from their brief tenure at Number 10 after the next election.
Regular readers of this column will be aware of my implacable opposition to the ubiquitous wind turbines that blight this and other fair lands and of my utter contempt for the politicians who have toadied to the sandalistas in a futile attempt to appear ‘green’.This latest episode may go some way to explaining my intransigence.
– Talk sport –
DURING the course of the recent sporting festival in NSGB the Bartie household was glued to the TV for most of every day.
The Lady Bartie loved the gymnastics, especially the men’s events, though the cycling also attracted her attention.
I suspect that Lycra has as much to answer for as sporting prowess.
Personally, I was disappointed to discover that golf doesn’t feature in the Olympic schedule so my interest waned approximately twelve and a half minutes after the opening ceremony.
The sight of Sir Paul McCartney and his brown wig convinced me that the ladies volleyball was a more attractive option.
Nevertheless, I could not resist grazing the channels in search of anything remotely watchable.
Thus, my enduring memory of London 2012 will be the disgraceful diction of the many and varied commentators who were thrust into the Olympic limelight as the Beeb struggled to fill 24-hour coverage on at least three channels (and possibly more).
It took only moments for me to deride those commentators who insisted on talking about ath-a-leets!
I assume they were referring to the impressive athletes who were doing their best to lift gold, silver or bronze.
Next, it took some time for me to realise that the reporters who mentioned events scheduled for next Mondee, or possibly Wensdee were actually referring to Monday and Wednesday.
For these people, every day in the week ends in ‘dee’.
In earlier times poetry was an Olympic event.
Maybe we should consider awarding a gold medal in The Queen’s English to any pundit who can properly speak it.
